The world is quite different ever since the robotic uprising of the early nineties

My mum and dad came to town yesterday so I was able to give my mum her yoga bag. She seemed quite happy that it matched the little lunch bag I made her for Christmas. I made a yoga bag for myself last night, after yoga class, and used some of my favourite fabric:

ROBOTS!!

I also tidied up my Ravelry queue last night, removing about a dozen patterns I'd never knit (a bikini? let's be realistic, people) and adding tags to almost everything else in there, then did the same with my favourites list. It was good to get organized; I'm expecting to knit three baby items forf co-workers this spring/early summer, so I was glad to get a refresher on the baby patterns I'd queued up.

I finished the body of Jack's sweater on Friday night (rejoice!), but can't work on the sleeves until I buy a second 3.75mm circular needle. The neighbourhood toy shop which carries a small selection of yarn and needles doesn't open until noon, so I'm enjoying a big cup of tea while I wait.

FO: Yoga Mat Bag

I was feeling a bit restless last night, so I plugged in my sewing machine and made this bag for my mum's yoga mat. Just a little something to keep the mat from getting dirty while in transit:

(Note to self: no more photos of black fabric in direct sunlight)

The fabric was purchased at JoAnn's on my trip to NY last fall. I thought the black would ensure it doesn't look too dirty, and the flowers and warm colours are right up my mum's figurative alley. I used a bright orange ribbon from my ribbon colection for the drawstring:


I made one of these as part of a birthday gift for my sister a few weeks ago (with awesome BANANA fabric -- sorry, no pics). It's really easy to do:
1. Take a rectangle of fabric (make sure it will wrap around your mat with a few inches of ease)
2. Press and sew the little tube for the drawstring to be fed through
3. Pin the strap in place and sew up the bottom and side of the bag, securing the strap (the strap can be made with the woven stuff you purchase at a fabric store, or simply with a strip of fabric)

(I'm happy to provide a more thorough tutorial if anyone wants, but I'm sure there are a bunch that have already been published on various blogs.)

Did I ever mention my ribbon collection? My husband set up a nice dispensing station:


(And there are still more spools that didn't fit)